JPM owns up to mistake

British Grand Prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya owned up to the qualifying mistake that cost his McLaren team a front-row start in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The Colombian was pushing to match eventual poleman and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen’s time when he got sideways in the final corner and clouted the barrier.

“I just lost it,” he told ITV-F1 pitlane reporter Louise Goodman. “If you look at Kimi’s lap, he was a bit oversteery. My car was a bit nervous into the corners.

“In that last sector it has been really understeery. I just turned in and as soon as I lifted off the throttle that was it.” Montoya said that all is not lost for the race, but that his chances of scoring a victory are slim.

“We can rescue some points, but I’m not interested in that,” he said. “I want to win races. We can get a podium easily here, we have got such a good pace.” Team principal Ron Dennis was furious with his driver afterwards. “He just lifted a little bit and lost the back end and paid the consequences,” Dennis told ITV-F1’s Ted Kravitz.

“It was clearly a one-two, there was one corner to go and all he had to do was get around it.

“And the front row is a strong place to be here. Fortunately it is a circuit on which you can overtake.” Dennis confirmed that Montoya will now start the race from the back of the grid with a new engine.

“Inevitably we will change the engine and look at our refuelling strategy again,” he said. Montoya can still have a points finish and we are obviously very quick here. It’s just frustrating not to be able to take advantage of it, but that’s motor racing.”